Sendy Audio Egret

While I have not heard the Egret, I have a hunch that the impressions of it sounding spatially cramped/narrow across listeners is not just a consequence of its FR, but also of heavy damping in the front volume.

I tried the Egret at CanJam last weekend and I also thought it had some similarities in sound to Audeze headphones. But it had the smallest and most cramped soundstage I heard all weekend and that was noticeable even in show conditions.

I hadn't seen the case for it, and.... part of me wishes I could unsee it.

I think whoever is in charge of signing off on the factory tuning needs to have a rethink.

In many songs the HD600 actually sounds more musical and the bass is not as impactful as I was expecting on the Egret either given they are planars, the FiiO JT7 costs £100-ish and has better sub-bass tuning...

I rated the SV021 Pro a 4/10, I feel the Egret does a better job, but for its price it should be much better still. I think a 6/10 is fair here.

So whilst these look, feel and come presented like £700 headphones should, they don't sound as natural and musical as even the £550 Arya Stealth which I am hugely fond of. I won't even bother mentioning how they compare to the HE1000se as it's night and day.

I read plenty of reviews of the Egret already and all of them praise the sonic character claiming it to be laid back and even organic/neutral, I am not seeing (hearing) that here and I'm pairing with transparent headphone amps and highly resolving (but smooth/warm and spacious) DACs.

In music (any genre really), hi-hats for example have a veiled presentation instead of being sparkly and intricately detailed with natural decay like they are even on my old Arya Stealth. Female vocals sound good but male vocals seem to lose organic timbre because of the veil and there is also loss of sparkle. I don't get the sense of air between mids and upper mids.